Super Sales Reps

No matter how innovative the technology or dazzling the service, smart carriers know their business is only as solid as the salespeople who deliver their messages to potential customers. But how do you find the super sales rep, and how do you keep him on your payroll once you do?

"It is important, not only for telecommunications companies, but really any company today to focus on salespeople who are not selling products but are selling solutions," said Dan Morrison, a consultant at K&A, an innovation-management company.

The concept of selling solutions rings true at AT&T Wireless, which has moved away from selling phones and rate plans to selling wireless solutions that appeal to the strategic interests of its large business customers, said Tim Finnegan, sales vice president.

"Anyone can sell phones," Finnegan said. "Only the best can sell solutions and add value to a customer's business."

Finnegan said challenges such as this fuel the best salespeople. "Fire in the belly" and "a passion to win" are phrases he uses to describe his optimal salesperson. Although AT&T does make a presence at career fairs, it attracts most of its best salespeople through referrals.

SHHH, LISTEN ...Most people rush through their lives, rarely taking the time to listen, but the top salespeople hone their listening skills.

"All salespeople should be great listeners and through listening should be able to understand the needs and wants of the customer," Morrison said.

He also said sales reps should focus less on the quick sell and more on building relationships and trust with customers, particularly in the business-to-business sector. Salespeople are not going to get someone to purchase an expensive system over the phone just because they have charm and savvy, he said.

Bob Stockard, Sales Staffers International president & CEO, said wireless executives should look for someone who excels at cold calling, and he advises executives not to put too much stock in the rsum but rather to dig deeper into a prospective employee's track record.

"The greatest success can be measured in what we call a brag book, which contains documents from their current or previous company saying they were salesperson of the quarter, of the year, copies of evaluations received while at a company or notes from the president," he said.

The biggest red flag, according to Stockard, is someone who doesn't have documentation. Other warnings are someone who has jumped from company to company or is unable to give a prior manager as a reference.

LOOKING WITHINMany carriers find the best track records within their own ranks.

"A lot of people in our major-account sales groups have come from the retail-sales arena, and we even get some of our salespeople out of our call centers," said Bob Sage, Alltel vice president of sales and distribution.

Alltel employs roughly 2,000 salespeople, and Sage said the increase in competition within the wireless industry has yielded a larger pool in which to look for prime candidates when the company is in a "serious hiring mode."

Although cannibalization occurs within the wireless industry, Stockard said that generally there is not enough differentiation among the wireless carriers to entice a rep to go from one carrier to another. He said hungry salespeople looking for substantial jumps in responsibility and salary might wind up looking outside the industry.

Although peripheral industries may snag a portion of the wireless sales force, they also can offer fresh blood to wireless businesses. Both Morrison and Stockard suggested that executives look to professional services with related skill sets such as the software industry and companies selling other products and services to small and mid-size businesses.

"There are a lot of good, quality people in those industries that want to get into wireless and can bring sales skills to the table," Stockard said. "Teaching the wireless piece is the smallest part. I would rather teach someone a new product than have to teach them innate sales skills."

JUST REWARDSOnce you've nabbed that killer salesperson, how do you keep him happy?

Don't underestimate the importance of monetary compensation. However, many other factors also play a role in salesperson longevity. In fact, Stockard said the reps typically rank three things ahead of the paycheck: opportunity for promotions, good benefits and a balance or quality of life.

Rewarding your salespeople for a job well done also is important, but Morrison said that smart executives reward their sales teams on every level, sometimes even for a failure.

"If you are only rewarding success, your salespeople are not going to go out and take risks, and it is ultimately those risks that take your business to the next level of success," Morrison said.

Rewarding your sales staff goes hand in hand with supporting them, and according to Finnegan, the support runs deep at AT&T.

"The biggest part of my job is creating an environment where people feel good about themselves," Finnegan said. "We have a set of operating principles and organizational values that put a great degree of emphasis on trust, respect for individual and integrity, and this aligns very well with people's personal values."

The attempt at finding a good overall match begins before the actual hire. Finnegan said prospective candidates meet not only with the hiring manager but also with several potential peers so that all parties can get a sense of working together.

"We want to see whether their values are in line with the organization's mission," he said. "I'm not interested in someone who just wants to sell more phones here than the other place."

Such diligence at the outset leads to a lower turnover rate. AT&T's sales-staff turnover rate generally falls at around 10% to 15%, less than half of the high-tech industry turnover rate.

TRAININGGiven the rapid-fire debut of products and services and heightened competition, continual, targeted training is necessary to keep both employer and employee on the same page.

"You really need to train employees in sales functions and teach them how to build relationship plans," Morrison said. "You should also teach them about your company and its philosophy and mission; they can't sell your product otherwise."

As Alltel has added sales staffers, management training has become more important and is increasingly being tied in with Alltel's existing training in consultative selling, Sage said. The company's training methods include staff meetings and an increasing number of structured sales-management courses.

"We have a number of trainers that are specific to different areas -- direct sales, indirect sales, sales management, etc. -- that we send on the road to provide training," he said.

Cultivating super sales reps is a give-and-take process. You need to look for the people with the inherent skills, but you also need to provide them with the environment in which those skills can flourish.